Sony Xperia ZL coming to a swath of Canadian carriers in April

It's not quite a US launch, but it's close: Sony is bringing the more compact of its two 5-inch smartphones, the Xperia ZL, to Canada in April. While that's already good news for locals who like their Xperias extra-large, the real perk will be a change in Sony's tendency toward limited launches in North America. The release will put the ZL on several of the more significant Canadian networks, including heavyweights Bell and Rogers as small-but-significant carriers like Mobilicity, MTS, Videotron and Wind Mobile -- the only major exceptions appear to be Telus and the big providers' budget brands. There's no word on pricing, although we're not expecting a radical break from the norm. We're mostly just left wondering whether the Xperia Z will appear as well, and just which if any of Sony's 1080p flagships will cross the border to the States.

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Precision, Power and Design: Xperia ZL Coming to Canadian Wireless Carriers this Spring

First introduced at CES 2013, the Xperia ZL packs the best of the Sony experience and features in a premium smartphone. It combines a razor sharp 5" full HD 1080p Reality Display with an elegant and compact design. Intelligent camera features make taking high quality images easier than ever, and One-touch NFC functionality connects the Xperia ZL to a wide range of accessories with a simple tap.

"With the highest screen to phone size ratio available today, the Xperia ZL represents over half of a century worth of Sony innovation in TV, imaging, music, film, gaming and design." said Peter Farmer, Vice President of Marketing North America, Sony Mobile Communications. "Loaded with Sony's One-touch functions and media applications, the Xperia ZL will provide an unparalleled entertainment experience whether on-the-go or as a central device within the home."

New Stand-out design

With subtly rounded edges and a curvature that fits naturally in the palm of your hand, Xperia ZL introduces a new OmniBalance design focused on creating balance and symmetry in all directions.

The power button, a signature design piece that gets its importance from the fact that the average user is likely to touch it an estimate of 76 times a day, exemplifies the premium build and craftsmanship that has gone into the Xperia ZL.

Intelligent Sony Technology

Xperia ZL's Reality Display, powered by Mobile BRAVIA® Engine 2, brings Sony's long-standing TV expertise to the smartphone and delivers an immersive viewing experience with super brightness and clarity. Most smartphones available today have screen ratios of between 60 and 68 per cent. Xperia ZL has been precision engineered for an exceptional viewing experience, allowing the brilliant display-representing 75 per cent of the overall footprinti-to take centre stage.

It also shares capabilities with Sony digital cameras and features Exmor RS for mobile, the world's first image sensor with HDR (High Dynamic Range) video for smartphones. HDR technology enhances clear images against strong backlight, so users can capture razor sharp pictures and videos no matter the conditions.

Sony's One-touch functions enable consumers to easily share music, photos and videos from their smartphone to an array of NFC-enabled Sony devices, including speakers, headphones and now TVs. With the latest BRAVIA TV, simply touch the Xperia ZL to the remote control of the TV to instantly enjoy your photos and videos on the big screen. Or, touch Xperia ZL to an NFC enabled headset or speaker and begin listening to tracks instantly.

Xperia ZL also includes Battery STAMINA Mode that can improve the standby time by four times or moreii by automatically shutting down battery-draining apps whenever the screen is off and starting them up again when the screen is back on.

Sony media applications offer a consistent entertainment experience across a range of Sony devices. Pre-loaded on Xperia ZL, the "WALKMAN", Album and Movies apps, enable discovery of on-line and off-line content through a single access point with new ways to enjoy and share that content. The "WALKMAN" application provides access to all your downloaded music, a library of 18 million songs to explore from Music Unlimited and Facebook social integration. The Movies application gives consumers access to over 100,000 movies and TV series from Video Unlimited while the Album application enables easy access to Facebook friends' photos as well as browsing photos by location.iii